Kaitlyn Tracey, a 33-year-old Canadian woman who lives in Asbury Park, New Jersey, was recorded on camera slapping a juvenile on July 3 for wearing patriotic-colored sweatpants with political wording, including “ICE” and “Trump.”
As the video went viral, she faced a consequence that now has her husband, Matthew Geroni, 42, praying for her “safety and well-being.”
Highlights
- Canadian national Kaitlyn Tracey is facing legal action after slapping a teen wearing MAGA-themed clothing.
- Her husband pleaded for help on social media, but his own digital footprint only worsened the situation.
- Some netizens have criticized the couple while describing Tracey’s arrest as “poetic justice.”
“Karma is also spelled HaHaHa,” a netizen said in response. “Everyone has the right to express themselves without harassment or intimidation.”
The victim did not sustain injuries from the incident.
The Canadian woman who attacked a minor has been arrested and faces deportation
Image credits: Ocean County Corrections
Tracey recorded herself confronting a group of four girls on the Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk before striking one of them across the face and body, a probable cause affidavit stated.
She was arrested on Monday, July 13, and was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, physical violence, harassment, and obstruction.
She was taken to the Ocean County Jail, but her husband, in a TikTok video posted the following day, stated that she was turned over to ICE and sent to Delaney Hall Immigration Detention Center in Newark.
Image credits: Visit NJ
“I need help,” Geroni pleaded. “I need my wife. I don’t want to see her get hurt.”
Geroni said he married Tracey “a little over three years ago,” and court documents corroborated it, noting that she entered the US with a passport in 2024.
“I am just doing anything I can to get her story heard and bring any help and attention so that I can get her released, even if that means back to Canada,” he stressed.
Image credits: gravmasterhash
Geroni did not comment on Tracey’s attack on the teen that led to her arrest in his public plea and instead claimed the entire situation was being taken out of context.
He created a GoFundMe page for Tracey’s legal expenses on Monday but was forced to take it down soon after a “Facebook group of MAGA supporters” mass-reported it, he said.
Image credits: gravmasterhash
He recalled that the cops told his wife to leave the boardwalk on the day of the incident because they did not have enough evidence to charge her.
After an arrest warrant was issued against her, she reached out to authorities to turn herself in, he claimed.
Matthew Geroni is an ICE and Trump critic who regularly posts videos mocking them
Image credits: Getty/Adam Gray
Geroni describes himself as the “Clown of Asbury Park” and the “Jester of the Jersey Shore” on social media.
In a TikTok video posted in June, he reenacted the confrontation between ICE agents, state police, and opponents of the agency’s immigration crackdown outside the same facility where his wife is being held.
The video portrays both sides of the altercation, with Geroni depicting protesters as peaceful while portraying law enforcement as aggressive.
Image credits: gravmasterhash
The clip opens with him sitting beneath the caption, “peaceful protesters literally standing in their designated First Amendment zone,” as he appears confused and scratches his head.
It then cuts to Geroni standing and aiming a mock firearm, mimicking rapid bullet discharge, alongside the caption: “ICE at Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ.”
In another clip, he wished cancer on the US president and his entire family, implying he would celebrate if the former passes away.
Some netizens showed no sympathy towards the couple, while others supported them
Image credits: gravmasterhash
While one user described the husband-wife duo as “birds of a feather,” another remarked, “Somebody should have told them that Jersey Shore is pro-Trump.”
“She had no business striking a child. Let her suffer. Maybe she will learn to keep her hands to herself,” a third user wrote.
Several users called Tracey “evil” for being consumed by political beliefs.
Image credits: gravmasterhash
Others also targeted her appearance, taking aim at her septum ring and quipping that the accessory “never disappoints.”
Those defending the couple, however, said they would have “donated to the GoFundMe if it was not taken down.”
“We don’t know her side of the story,” one person argued, adding that “Canada will actually be a better place to live for y’all.”
Tracey is scheduled to appear in court on August 4, per her attorney, Francis R. Hodgson.
Social media remained split over whether Tracey’s arrest was warranted
